My Father's Glass Eye
by Jeannie Vanasco
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Pub Date 19 Sep 2019 | Archive Date 26 Sep 2019
Prelude Books | Duckworth
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Description
My Father’s Glass Eye is Jeannie’s struggle to honour her father, her larger-than-life hero, but also the man who named her after his daughter from a previous marriage, a daughter who died. After his funeral, Jeannie spends the next decade in escalating mania, in and out of hospitals - increasingly obsessed with the other Jeanne.
Obsession turns to investigation as she plumbs her childhood awareness of her dead half-sibling and hunts for clues into the mysterious circumstances of her death. It becomes a puzzle she she must solve to better understand herself and her father.
Jeannie pulls us into her unravelling with such intimacy that her insanity becomes palpable, even logical. A brilliant exploration of the human psyche, My Father’s Glass Eye deepens our definitions of love, sanity, grief, and recovery.
Advance Praise
A NYLON and Newsweek Editor's Choice
'Wildly innovative.' New York Magazine
'Brilliant . . . As the pages fly by, we're right by Vanasco, breathlessly experiencing her grief, mania, revelations, and - ultimately - her relief.' Entertainment Weekly
'Powerful and ruminative . . . This is an illuminating manual for understanding grief and the strange places it leads.' Publishers Weekly
'An absolutely beautiful exploration of family, grief, memory, and madness, this book is outstanding. . . . The layers found in this memoir are as plentiful as the layers found in the human eye; ultimately, it is as deeply layered as the human experience itself.' Jamie Thomas, Women & Children First
'This is memoir at its best. The prose is powerful and often breathtaking - it'll make your heart break, it might make you cry, and you'll probably even laugh a few times. This is an elegy fierce and lyrical and raw, like none I've read before.' Sarah Malley, Newtonville Books
'An intense and unforgettable memoir, as fascinating for its artistry as for its subject matter. . . . Lyric, haunted, smart and tortured, this is an obsessive love letter to a dead father as well as a singular work of literature.' Shelf Awareness
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9780715653784 |
| PRICE | US$9.99 (USD) |
Links
Featured Reviews
Elizabeth Ann S, Reviewer
This was a well written book but although the content was difficult in places, it was divided into short sections and this made it quite quick to read. The author cannot move on from her father's death and also from the fact she was named after an older sister who had died after a car accident two decades before Jeannie's birth. Jeannie obviously suffers from multiple mental issues and the book is written as part of trying to come to terms with life in general but focused around the relationship with her father. Worth a read if only to have a better understanding about mental health and all the complexities that arise.
Brenda B, Reviewer
A fascinating look at mental illness without it being the focus. The father-daughter relationship, that was the focus, added depth and interest to a story about a young girl's coming of age and finding out who she really is.
Cristie U, Book Trade Professional
The author's raw writing made this book about her struggles to come to terms with not only her relationship with her father, but her mental health an emotional read that I couldn't put down.
Abby S, Reviewer
Raw honest open the author shares. Her love for her father despite all she knew her problems with mental her.Her griefover her dad jumps off the pages.A memoir that draws you in every emotion revealed.#netgalley #duckworthpress
Cen R, Reviewer
A piece of wonderful honest, open and raw writing this book is. The bond between father and daughter, it also touches on mental illness and mental health.
A well written book.
CATHY C, Bookseller
Which came first....Mental Illness of grief? Or did grief come first, followed by a descent into madness?
Named for a deceased half sister, Jeannie Vanasco is the adored only child of older parents. When her father dies on her first night away at college, she begins a long spiral downward into mental illness. Diagnosed at various times with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and/or borderline personality disorder, Jeannie has written a brilliant memior.
I read this book in one sitting, and would highly recommend this title for any audience.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free digital copy of this title to review from Net Galley.
#MyFather'sGlassEye#NetGalley
Doug B, Reviewer
Jeannie tells us her journey to find her father's previous life. And his first daughter named Jeannie. She knows only a little bit about that first family and things it important to track them down and learn as much as she can about all of them, her father, and especially Jeannie. Along the way, she learns a lot about herself and how she didn't always see her father as she maybe should have.
This isn't a happy-go-lucky beach-type read, but it was good to see Jeannie grow and realize that life isn't always the way we think it is.
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